The back-and-forth between remote work and commuting to the office versus a hybrid system won’t be anytime soon anyway, but the noise of this ongoing debate is definitely getting louder. More and more companies are using more sophisticated technologies to measure whether their employees are productive or not. Meanwhile, companies that have gone 100 percent virtual report doing well; Other companies draw a line in the sand, and that line doesn’t include the option to work from home. For many companies based or present in America’s medium or small towns, the discussion is largely over.
Remote work vs. office: Which is better depends on who is asked
Part of the confusion lies in the ongoing research on working from home versus fully returning from the office: the data is everywhere. Well before the pandemic, staff group SHRM had reiterated what seems obvious to many. To begin with, employees were less stressed from not having to commute, faced fewer distractions from office interruptions and banter, and had often worked longer hours, the latter of which is a bonus for companies looking to brag about their productivity.
One of the arguments against remote work is that isolated workers don’t collaborate and work together, which can boost a company’s overall efficiency and, of course, innovation. But for all employees, who often face microaggressions at work or just don’t “fit in,” the “collaborative” chatter often doesn’t get across — it’s difficult to be there at all times when one’s contributions aren’t appreciated or overlook. Also, the effects of the pandemic are still lingering, meaning that for many employees, the best possible mental health program that allows them to both heal and focus on the work at hand is a relatively simple solution: work continue from home.
Still, the tug-of-war between remote and physical jobs continues – and, in the spirit of fairness, another pre-pandemic survey found very different results regarding remote work compared to the SHRM study. Examining the habits of European workers, this 2019 study found that the productivity gap between workers working remotely and those working in the office was nearly 80 percent.
The most visible brands generate the most home vs. office headlines
Remote work headlines continue, in part due to the divisions being revealed within the workforce at America’s most notable brands. Take the conflict brewing at Apple, where employees are reluctant to come to the tech giant’s headquarters in Cupertino, California (above) three times a week. But of course they have their objections: First of all, the definition of what “Silicon Valley” is has long been stretched from the Santa Clara Valley to the Peninsula, San Francisco, and the East Bay, not to mention far-flung suburbs like Tracy and even Los Banos. The result is much longer commutes to the office, as the average home price in Cupertino is currently around $2.65 million, and that’s after a recent price drop.
If you suffered in Bay Area traffic, you would get it. If Apple were hypothetically based in a smaller, far more navigable city of 100,000, the pushback might not be as visible. If you’ve worked in the office where many colleagues drive or commute and cover long distances, the stress of the morning routine isn’t just a water cooler, it can dampen mood for the rest of the day and week. Add in the stresses caused by the pandemic like kids in school, worries about elderly parents, persistent virus variants and of course today’s toxic politics here in the US
Here’s another aspect to the remote work debate. The reality is that we’re seeing two types of workers emerge: those who benefit from being in the office chatting and collaborating with colleagues, and those who work best from the office in the guest room. Of course, there’s the benefit for the occasional visit to the office; At the same time, major construction work on a bridge or highway overpass, or a rise in fuel prices should give management more than just a push to send the memo: “It’s okay to work from home for the next few days.”
This debate involves much more than “efficiency” and “collaboration”
“Some employees I know prefer to go to the office every day. Others not at all. The choice is theirs, as long as they meet the company’s minimum requirements and their managers are happy,” Gene Marks recently wrote for the Guardian. “A year from now, will we still be discussing working from home? I do not think so. Because unlike some of the other problems caused by the pandemic, a hybrid work environment is already eliminating this one. I just hope my older customers realize that. Because if they continue to resist, they will lose great talent.”
Earlier this summer, Stanford University professor Nicholas Bloom pointed out additional complexities to the debate to Bloomberg. For financially strained major cities—including their public transit systems that are suffering as many workers have fled to the suburbs or even further afield—a compromise on working hours is imperative if our cities can still thrive or survive in the long term.
Bloom added that companies looking for workers who need to work remotely, or at least have a hybrid schedule, can increase labor supply, which in turn can generate economic growth for companies and the economy at large. “There are a number of groups that are better able to work from home because of working from home. Many people — think people with young children, people with disabilities, people nearing retirement age, college students — would love to work six hours a day, three days a week without a commute, but wouldn’t be prepared for the five days a week to do, including commuting,” Bloom explained to Bloomberg’s Justin Fox. “I think that could increase labor supply by 2 percent, 3 percent, 4 percent, which would have a very big impact on growth.”
Bottom line, Bloom found a correlation between generous work-life balance programs at companies with strong management and overall positive business performance. Scale that up and you can add up the economic gains – and the human benefits too.
Image credit: Carles Rabada via Unsplash
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